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[[newspaper clipping]] SEMI WEEKLY TRIBUNE NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURE SOCIETY FAIR AT BUFFALO. From the copious letters published in THE DAILY TRIBUNE descriptive of the late Show of the State Agricultural Society at Buffalo, we can only find room for the following brief extracts touching some of the most important points noticed. BUFFALO, Wednesday Oct 7-p.m. There is a specimen of moveable fence that is well worth attention. It is made of narrow boards, four or five inches wide, nailed upon three battens, in pannels, and used without posts, by merely setting the ends of the pannels together, and locking them with a wooden or iron clamp. It makes a crooked, but strong, cheap fence. It is the best kind of portable fence that I know of. There are several other gang plows, and numerous grain and seed drills and corn planters, but the most important of all the family of corn planters ever invented is an entirely new contrivance, not yet patented–in fact this is the fist perfect machine ever built–invented by Handford Ingraham, of Naples, Ontario County, a poor sickly man, who was not able to get up a machine for exhibition, and this one was made and brought here by one of his neighbors who had tried it, Mr. S.H.Sutton, more than anything else to see what a committee of the State Society would say to it. I am sure they will give it a most honorable notice and a premium. Its great value is its great simplicity, lightness, cheapness and durability. There is no gearing, and but very little machinery, and it is mostly made of wood, and yet will drop in hills or drills, with the seeds, or rows just as far apart as the operator desires. It is drawn by one horse; it can be held by a boy 12 years old or carried upon his shoulder. It is the ne plus ultra of all corn planters. It is composed of a pair of thills, a cross bar and handles like a plow. The hind end of the thills rest upon bent pieces of iron a few inches from the ground. The seed boxes are attached to the end of the hills, and a spring slide that drops the grains whenever opened with unerring certainty, is opened whenever desired by a slight pressure of the right hand fingers upon a key under the handle, which gives motion to the dropper by a small iron rod. The whole operation is as simple as open and shut, for that is simply the whole operation. [[end page]] [[start page]] [[newspaper clipping]] Letter from the Country. Agricultural Machinery – Tendencies of Population – Dependencies of Industry – Mining – New Developments. [Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette.] CHILLICOTHE, August, 1857 Having described the effect of the Steam Thresher, I wish, for a moment, to consider the effects of Agricultural Machinery, in correcting some of the tendencies of population. The tendency of modern civilization is most unquestionably to accumulate population in towns – engaged in the arts. Arts have increased in variety and use. At the same time the activities of mind have increased. Hence, for the double purpose of engaging in art, or commercial enterprize and of hunting fortune by their wits, men rush into towns. The towns increase doubly as fast as the rural population. At this double ratio, it is plain there must come a time when food would be insufficient. This is the case in England, (which imports even its eggs,) and may be so in this country. At this point, the introduction of agricultural machinery becomes of extreme interest, for it is precisely the element which is necessary to sustain this flow of population towards the cities. I said the Steam Thresher saved the labor of forty men. I find it is really sixty, for only about ten were connected with the Machine. Suppose, then, the Steam Thresher to save the labor of 50 men, and each Mower and Reaper to save the labor of 10 men, which, I suppose, to be about the fact. Let us now estimate the effect of this kind of machinery. The county of Pickaway has about 350 Mowers and Reapers; suppose Ross to have the same. It will take about 30 Steam Threshers to thresh an average crop. The result, then, will be this: Thirty Steam Threshers save 1500 men; 700 Mowers and Reapers save 7,000; 8,500 men give a population of 40,000.
